Oh, for That Flame!
E. W. ERICKSON Pastor-Evangelist, Northern California Conference
May the finger of warning be lifted. Fail ure to progress in spiritual tone will decrease our ability to persuade men into the kingdom. At a recent city ministerial association dinner the resident Methodist clergy man leaned across the table and soberly said directly to me, "Unless there comes a change, I fear that Seventh-day Adventists will become just like the Methodists." In short, this is what he meant: Historically, Methodism and Adventism ignited from a spark and fanned into a flame of glory. Numerically they advanced. The walls of formalism and pseudo-orthodoxy crumbled before their naming zeal and fervor. They maintained the "simplicity that is in Christ" throughout their early existence. Where are the fires of Methodism today? Where does mid-twentieth-century Adventism stand? Let me ask you, preacher, are you possessed by the same spirit "which shone so bright" in the Wesleys and the Whites? Do you think that your Father expects less than a flaming fire? Will a dull impression of the Light of the world be sufficient to prepare a people to meet their God? Is there a keen sense of awareness to duty, a passionate urgency? When we hear of men going to Christless graves are we stirred emo tionally? Are we so insensible that the loss of a soul doesn't jar us in the least? Bathurst fairly poured out his soul when he exclaimed: "Where is that Spirit, Lord, which dwelt In Abram's breast, and sealed him Thine? Which made Paul's heart with sorrow melt, And glow with energy divine?"
Let's frankly face our poverty. If the church does not offer Christ to the world, she becomes naked and destitute and a curse. The world is not tired of Christ; on the contrary, it is seeking the security that only He can give. However, the world is sick and tired of His bloodless representatives who manifest little or no concern for the souls of men. We say, "Come and join us," and many respond, "We cannot see the Christ!" To think that the lovely Jesus MAY, 1954 is sitting for His portrait in the lives of His people and many, so many, are content only with a snapshot vision! How can we expect hu manity to be attracted to such cheap pho tography? Will Seventh-day Adventism be rele gated to the long list of "has beens"?
To the ministry come these words: "The Lord has need of men of intense spiritual life." Gospel Workers, p. 64. Somehow the word "intense" in that terse sentence has the sound of a trumpet in it. Intensity is a far cry from the state of mediocrity in which most of us are content to be found. How can such an electri fying experience be mine, you say? Let us con sider three contributing factors that rob the ministry of its force.
Complicated Living
The curse of complexities is dogging the feet of every soldier of the cross, minister and laity alike. True simplicity has nearly been lost sight of in our modern age, with its bewildering, complicated living. These growing complexities are stealing something from us that we cannot afford to lose. We hear a great deal about crav ing a simpler life. This is what drives men from the annoyances of a complex city life to the hill country, where a lowly thorn bush may draw the soul back to God.
No minister can perform his duty satisfac torily unless he possesses a deep simplicity of soul. We must possess "the simplicity that is in Jesus" if we are to be effective. We do not decry the progress that science and invention have made, but when we become obsessed and pos sessed by the products of scientific genius and progress, then our effectiveness is displaced. We cannot have divided affections and expect to sustain a faithful and healthy ministry. The bane of "keeping up with the Joneses" is more tragic than trite. Think how simple the earthly life of Jesus was. His possessions were few but adequate. He often spoke of His Father's care. He pointed to lilies and sparrows, demonstrating accurately His creed of simplicity. Jesus' least concern was over temporal affairs. Is there not a lesson here for the twentieth-century preacher?
Think how simple was His speech. "The common people heard him gladly." Obviously the simple people could not understand the verbal utterances of their own rabbis, who only fogged their minds. They did not hear them gladly. But when Jesus spoke it was all so sim ple and practical that they could easily see their own experience. They did not guess, they knew. Verbal gymnastics do not necessarily indicate eloquence. A gyrating vocabulary is not evi dence of profound thinking. The simplest language is often the profoundest. Men today are not won to Christ by shallow speeches or verbose lectures. It is often true, however, that the preacher may win them to himself, but this does not mean that they are converted. It is Christ's language that attracts and converts the common people. God give us the tongue of the Galilean! If we have lost the simple way, may God help us to see that it is our fault and not the fault of the age! Danger of the Limelight The nemesis of notoriety plagues all men. To fall into its clutches spells disaster for a minister who otherwise might have been a "powerhouse." If there is one thing above another that mortals must keep under subjection, it is that inherited weakness that causes men to want to be some body. One fault of the first-century preachers was notoriety. "All their works they do for to be seen of men." Self-recognition and self-ex altation produce miserable preachers. This is evidenced by their lame preaching. Little wonder that Christ is seldom seen. This evil is too obvious to be mistaken. It feeds on the proven der of flattery and thrives on the mistakes of others. It talks the language of religion but is as irreligious as paganism. Clothing itself in a holy robe, it parades before the people to re ceive praise and applause. The preacher who preaches to make people think he is wonderful is making a joke of Christianity and severing himself from the Source of power. The clever preacher who always "has one on the tip of his tongue" is not generally a clear preacher. "Vain babblings" do not impress men and women of calm judgment, and should be avoided so spoke Paul to Timothy. The "preacher" who keeps his congregation "in stitches" is playing with strange fire, whether he believes it or not. The funny preacher is out of his role. He did not study to become a comedian but rather an intercessor. Not only is joking and comedy out of place in the sacred desk, but it is blasphemous, garbles the truth, and sends the listeners home mentally and spir itually void. The preacher is claimed successful by his clientele, and true to form such a procla mation whets his appetite. He becomes a profes sional trickster in the desk. He has the approba tion of his followers, and this feeds his ego centric soul. He is satisfied with his "success," for he is able to hold the attention of his listen ers and he has the knack to make them laugh in one sentence and weep in the next. May heaven anoint our eyes to see that truth and tricks do not mix! Ministers are ofttimes prone to be extremely clever when associating with each other. Some are skilled at taking Biblical phrases and dex terously using them in one of life's humorous situations. This in turn draws a laugh from those who are not thinking. When a man's re ligion is sacrificed for his ability to produce a laugh, then that man's cleverness will eventu ally bring about his destruction. 'Brothers of the cloth, if we are interested only in ourselves and the degree of attention we can attract to ourselves, we cannot be truly interested in others. A man's capacity for good is dependent upon his ability to see beyond himself. If we are self-satisfied, then we "are of all men most miserable." When I look into my own heart I know there is much that must be burned away before I can be what He wants me to be, and that is the goal toward which God is tirelessly and relentlessly striving to direct us all. The vice of mediocrity in the ministry can be compared to what lukewarmness is in the Laodicean church. Such a plight not only is nauseating to the Master but does not feel its need for a reformation, a result that makes it doubly hazardous. He who succumbs to a "get by" policy is gambling with eternal life and bringing a re proach upon the sacred office. The soft-wool, indulgent life does not befit the minister of Jesus Christ, who ought to be always alert and ready to do his Master's bidding. Let it be rumored throughout the congregation that the minister is lazy and slothful, and his effectiveness is finished. If a minister's hours of study are frittered away by secondary interests and "justifiable" pursuits, he is not deserving the office, and furthermore must give an account in the day of judgment. Pity the poor man who has become a slave to an endless variety of committees and neglects the weightier matters of his work! Un fortunately there is no human device capable of determining mediocrity. There ought to be, for it would be the means of saving some.
Consider the perils of study and preaching. A man who imbibes at the fountain of secular literature and sips from the Good Book infre quently should not be too surprised when his congregation is soured by his presentation of truth. Make the Book the hub and place other works in their proper perspective. Pity the fel low who never reads, and who has no desire for reading. Pity the preacher who lets the week idly slip by and then thinks to prepare a feast on Friday night for his starving (I use the word advisedly) flock. He is only deceiving himself. The sheep know it, for they are hungry. God knows that Friday night is a poor time to begin sermon preparation. A preacher needs Friday night to get his sinful soul into shape for the day of feasting. Let Friday night be spent in weeping and praying. The wasted hours only eternity will reveal hours that might have been given to personal devotion, sermon preparation, intercessory prayer, visiting, Bible study, and a host of other neglected essentials. Oh, for that flame, that compelling desire, to fulfill our Master's expectation for us! Flee the Christian ministry and resign if you want a life of ease. The symbol of the cross is ours, and that denotes hardship.
We must fight mediocrity all our lives, but Christ is on our side, and the flame may become brighter and brighter until all His ministers are flames of fire. And so we pray: "Remember, Lord, the ancient days; Renew Thy work, Thy grace restore; And while to Thee our hearts we raise, On us Thy Holy Spirit pour."
Exegetical Studies in Ephesians Part IV
The Work of the Christian: "Be Ye Kind"
ADLAI ALBERT ESTEB Editor, "Go" the Journal for Adventist Laymen Scripture reading: Eph. 4:1-3, 30-32.
Recently I took one of my grandchildren down to the Museum of Natural History. This eight-year-old was visiting us from Califor nia. Seven years ago when she was here she was too immature to appreciate the wonders of the Museum of Natural History. Perhaps some of us are sometimes too immature to appreciate the wonders of God's treasure house. Someone has said, "Jesus was a mature person talking to adolescents, many of them with gray hairs." We found the hour and five minutes we had allotted for the Museum altogether insufficient. When the closing bell rang we went over to the information desk and asked the one in charge what there was on the next floor. And when she began to tell us all the things we could find on the next floor, I turned to Janice and said, "We'll have to come back; it looks as if we haven't started yet."
I feel like that about the book of Ephesians. We never can exhaust the wonders of this book. It contains "unsearchable riches." This time rather than just look at the gold nuggets and beauties within this vast treasure house, I wonder whether you would like to take one nugget home with you and have it as yours. So instead of continuing the series, exegetically, I thought we would just take up one precious little nugget and look at it. Instead of discussing the work of the Christian, exegetically, pointing out how we are to woo and win, how we are to do our work for the lost, how we are to be courteous in contacts and cheerful, charming, considerate and consistent in character and conduct; capable, content, certain in our convictions, and commiserating and kind; instead of Biblical exegesis of Ephesians showing how Paul teaches us to woo and win by (1) speaking the truth to our neighbors, (2) singing the songs of Zion, and (3) serving in the Spirit; instead of this expository preaching, let us take just one phrase and handle it as we would a golden nugget. Then, to change the metaphor, let us put some windows in the sermon. Here they are: three little words "Be ye kind." Kindness is a kingly quality. It is love in action; it is love in working clothes, in a nurse's uniform, in your working outfit when you are really serving God. We look out upon a world littered with the wreckage of hate and disillusionment. We see a war-weary world rubbing sad, tired eyes, blood shot with weeping. We still stand amid the carnage of World War II, and now the world is trembling as we contemplate the potential holocaust of horror of World War III.
The creeping paralysis of fear is gripping the hearts of men and women everywhere. Our people in Massachusetts had a chance to be kind after a natural disaster in the June, 1953, tornado, as well as in other places after such occurrences. As I stood last year in many cities still filled with the wreckage of the war in Europe, as many of you have stood there, I shook my head and wondered how long must this go on. All this is the wreckage of hate. I do not know how much longer we will have a chance to be kind. The world is dancing over the trap door of hell, and underneath is the abyss. The Spirit of God is being withdrawn from the earth, and when the Spirit of God is withdrawn, the prince of the air turns loose. The result horrors on every side. That gives us a chance to be kind. If we are ever to see kindness, we must see it now. There will be no chance to be kind to sinners, kind to the sick, and kind to the suf fering ones up in heaven. For no hospitals, no jails, no tornadoes, or no wars will be there. Now is our chance to be kind.
"A Cup of Cold Water Only"
Pick up that phrase and take it home with you. What does it mean? Jesus said, "And who soever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward." In preaching one day I stressed the word "only." Another minister got up and challenged me on that. I answered, "My Bible says a cup of cold water only." He read it in his Bible and apologized. It does say "a cup of cold water only." And it says "who soever." It isn't your name or my name. If it were "Adlai Esteb," I would wonder whether there was another Adlai Esteb. It is better than if it had my name. I was named after my grand father. But there might be another Adlai Esteb. But whosoever—that refers to me and to you. So "whosoever" shall give a cup of cold water only.
Martha Culbreth had her nineteenth birth day not long ago. Three years previous, when she was sixteen years old, she was on vacation in the Southland. She was sitting in the foyer of a hotel at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and thought she heard a little old lady sitting near her say, "I wish I had a drink of water." Martha went over to her and said, "Did I hear you say you wished you had a drink of water?" "Yes, I did say that, but why do you ask? There aren't very many young girls nowadays who care anything about old gray-haired women like me. Who are you?" "I am Martha Martha Culbreth, and I will be glad to get you a glass of water." When she returned the lady was most grate ful and pleased. She asked Martha where she lived. "I live in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I work in a piano store there." "What are you doing here?" "I am just on vacation." The old lady must have had a marvelous memory. Martha did not see her write down anything, but she asked her many questions. Martha never saw her again, but when she had her nineteenth birthday not long ago she was sitting at the piano in the store, as no cus tomers were in just then. Suddenly the door opened and a well-dressed gentleman came in, a lawyer from Philadelphia. She rose to serve him, thinking him another customer. He said, "I am looking for Martha Culbreth." "I am Martha Culbreth." Then he pulled out of his pocket an envelope and said, "This is for you." Martha looked at her name on it "Martha Culbreth." Inside she found a check for $7,500. She thought it was a joke and asked, "What does this mean?" "My mother said to bring this to you. She told me of your kindness to her some years ago when you met her in Myrtle Beach." At first Martha could not even remember the incident. Then the man said, "Now, is there something else you would like to have before I leave?" She still thought it was a joke, and said, "Well, yes, I would like to have this piano store." "You would? Just a few moments, please." He went upstairs, found the owner, and when he came down he had a title deed in his hand and gave it to her. "Whosoever shall give . . . a cup of water only . . . shall in no wise lose his reward." Now, I am not telling you that if you are kind to someone it will turn out to be a wealthy woman who will send you a check for $7,500 on your birthday and give you a title to a piano store. But I promise you something better than that, on the promise of this Book: whosoever you are, if you fulfill your specifica tions in the proposition, I promise you a title to a mansion in the skies.
A Glass of Milk
Maybe you had not heard of Martha Culbreth. It was a real story. You have all heard of Dr. Howard Kelly, the great surgeon. He was not always famous and wealthy. There was a day when he was ringing doorbells, selling from house to house to go through college, as many of us have done. But some days sales were poor. One day Howard Kelly became hungry. He was tired and thirsty. Salesmen often get that way. One of our colporteurs is reported to have said at one home, "Lady, may I have a drink of water? I'm so hungry I don't know where I'm going to sleep tonight." Well, Howard Kelly felt that way. He had no food or even money enough to buy a bottle of milk. He was desperate, but too proud to tell anyone. Yet he would not give up his goal. He had the cour age to press on. He rang another doorbell. A lovely young woman came to the door. Instead of canvassing her, he said, "I wonder if I might have a drink of water." He did not dare ask for anything but water.
That young woman, with the intuition all women seem to have, said to herself, "He looks hungry," and wondered, "How can I help him? He looks hungry to me. I know what I'll do." She found the largest tumbler in the house and filled it with milk. She never knew how good that looked to him. He drank it slowly. It was food and drink. His courage revived. When he finished he offered to pay, putting his hand boldly into his pocket and asking, "How much do I owe you?" But she said, "You don't owe me anything; Mother always said never to accept pay for a kindness." Howard Kelly said a sincere Thank you. Years went by, and he became the famous surgeon. She grew up too, married, had a Page 16 family. Then came the year when an awful disease fastened upon her, and the local doc tors did not know what to do. They rushed her to the big city. There also the doctors were baffled. Finally, in desperation, they called for Dr. Howard Kelly. He came to study this case. The first thing he noticed in glancing over the case history was the name and address. The name did not mean anything, but the town he would never forget it.
That was the town where his courage had revived. He remembered the little kindness; it fired his soul again. Out of curiosity he went into the room and glanced down at the bed. He could never forget those eyes, although the woman had greatly changed. She did not recognize him, for she had seen him only as a hungry young man. He went back without telling her who he was, and gave his best, his time and his talent, to save her. He succeeded. Her life was saved. Then he gave orders, "Don't send any bills to her with out my O.K. I want to see them all." After weeks of convalescence there came the hour when she was ready to go home. The bills were prepared and passed over to him. He did something wonderful. When the bill was taken in to her, she saw that long list of charges for X-rays, tests, specialists' fees, board and room, et cetera enough to make her sick again. But something caught her eye some handwriting at the bottom.
Glancing down, she read, "Paid in full with one glass of milk. Howard Kelly, M.D." I am not promising you that if you start be ing kind you will have all your hospital bills paid the rest of your life. I promise you some thing better eternal life in a land where sick ness will never be known. "Be ye kind." We haven't much more time to be kind. I beg of you to follow the injunc tion; here are six reasons: Be kind, because
1. It is a divine formula to solve the problems of this world. We are always looking for pro found solutions to solve the problems of the home, the church, the community, the nation, the world, and we pass by this simple formula of Christ.
2. It is a divine command, Love your neigh bor. We are always looking for some ultraultra formula in our search for the solution of the world's ills, and we pass by this simple com mand of Christ.
3. There is a divine indictment against the church that the greatest sin among us is our unkindness. Here it is: "The inhumanity of man toward man is our greatest sin." Ministry of Healing, p. 163.
4. We should be kind because there is a divine Example to follow. Jesus was kind; He went about doing good. Kagawa, the great Japanese Christian leader, wrote: "I read in an old Book about a man named Jesus who went about doing good. And I am so satisfied to just go about." Are you just going about, or are you going about doing good?
5. It is a divine promise: Be kind. "If we would humble ourselves before God, and be kind and courteous and tenderhearted and piti ful, there would be one hundred conversions to the truth where now there is only one." Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 189. There is a divine promise there would be one hundred con versions to the truth where now there is only one. It doesn't say there should be or could be or ought to be or that we should pray that there might be. It reads, "there would be." It is a divine promise.
6. It is a divine prophecy that is going to be fulfilled. In a recent issue of the Review and Herald there appeared on the front page a pic ture and story about what Adventists did in Waco, Texas, building a house for a Baptist in one day. He was a man who lost his home in the tornado disaster. He had lost both his legs some years ago. On the back page of the same issue there was more about what Adventists did in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the tornado disaster there. It is already beginning to happen. "Before the final visitation of God's judgments upon the earth, there will be, among the people of the Lord, such a revival of primitive godli ness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times." The Great Controversy, p. 464. That is going to happen in your community. Your neighbors are going to say, "They are the kind est people on our street." The world will yet see in Seventh-day Adventists the greatest revelation of the Christian virtues of love and kindness since the day of the apostles. Isaiah 58 will find a complete fulfillment. Let us begin now! When you men come downstairs in the morn ing, whom will you see first? Probably your wife out there getting breakfast for you. Go over and kiss her and tell her how wonderful she is. She will probably faint, but try it out. When your children come in, pick them up and tell them how you love them. They may go to their mother and say, "What's the matter with Daddy?"
Let us start being kind, in our walk, in our work, in our warfare. I close with the words of the little girl who prayed: "O God, make all the bad people good, and all the good people kind."
Adorning Our Doctrines
E. MAX TRUMMER National City, California
The apostle Paul wrote to Titus, his asso ciate worker, to help the members of the church to "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour," to the intent that their friends and neighbors would be attracted to the gospel by their outstanding life. That this all-embracing injunction is also meant for us today is evident from the familiar words in Titus 2:10-13: "That they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. . . . Teaching us that, deny ing ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."
No doubt this fitting admonition includes also the way in which we present our message in public efforts. We should be careful not to antagonize the public unnecessarily. There is danger that we cause serious opposition in what we present, as well as in the way we do it, and thus close the doors to the message prematurely. And this is particularly true in Latin fields. We were careful in our own work there to leave prophecies on the Papacy, the true church, and kindred subjects for the bap tismal classes.
As it is quite important to repeat our doc trines to the believers from time to time, I used to head my studies: "The Doctrines Par Excellence of Seventh-day Adventists." In these studies we endeavored to show that the har mony, beauty, and perfection of the Scriptures can only be seen in our message. This made not only strong believers but also enthusiastic mis sionaries.
I wish to speak of another way in which we tried to adorn our doctrine. Our chapels were very simple in every way, and our pulpits were never elaborate, but we tried to make them helpful by having on them the "three greatest words of all" "God is Love." These three words were seen in golden letters on wine-colored cloth in every chapel in our mission. They always made a good impression on both believer and visitor, and were a sermon by themselves. They were an ever-present guide and inspira tion to the speaker.
